Archive for the ‘Ford Deuce’ tag

How much would you pay for a factory Ford hot rod? How much for the nicest traditional Deuce highboy you’ve ever seen?
Did you say, respectively, $220,000 and $133,100?
Those were the going prices at last weekend’s Dingman Ford Collection auction in Kensington, New Hampshire, run by RM Auctions. The auction, which mostly included stock pre-war V-8 Fords, also had the two cars that would’ve made any hot rodder swoon.
The first, a 1933 Ford roadster, sans fenders, headlamps, running boards, windshield and rumble seat, constituted one of Ford’s covert entries into the 1933 Elgin, Illinois, road races. Fred Frame, one of the top drivers of the day, stuffed his 1933 roadster into a tree during practice laps the day before, so he used another 1933 roadster that had served development mule duty for the actual race. It went through a number of hands over the years until Ford historian Ray Nacewicz bought it in 1982 and restored it to its current condition. The pre-auction estimate had it pegged at $125,000 to $175,000, which it handily toppled.
The second, a 1932 Ford highboy with a 24-stud flathead V-8, triple 97s, juice brakes, wide whites on steelies and a Columbia two-speed rear axle, had no documented history to go along with it, but its overall condition rivaled those of the impeccably restored Fords surrounding it. We didn’t hear of any pre-auction estimate, but more than $133,000 for a Deuce highboy with no particular build history or high-profile name behind it should raise a few eyebrows.

(This post originally appeared in the June 15, 2006, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)

Hot rodding certainly had its start before 1932, and the 1932 Ford certainly holds revered status in the collector car world, but when hot rodders discovered the 1932 Ford, they made that one-year-only body style into an automotive icon, and the car itself elevated the hot rod world into legend.
Thus, no hot rodder will want to miss any of the festivities next year celebrating the 75th anniversary of the 1932 Ford, arranged largely by Ford Motor Company.
To kick off the celebration, a panel of hot rod experts assembled a list of the 75 most influential 1932 Ford hot rods, which they announced at January’s Grand National Roadster Show. The panel and Ford Motor Company hope to assemble as many of the 75 as possible at next year’s Grand National Roadster Show in January. At the time, they had only located 53 of the cars, but thanks to publicity since then, six of the cars have reappeared, including the Jackman Brothers coupe, leaving 16 lost Deuces.Hotrodhotline.com has both the full list of 75 and the list of missing cars. Anybody with information about the cars that remain on the latter list should email the75@paccomgrp.com

(This post originally appeared in the May 11, 2006, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)

Think the prices of real steel 1932 Fords have reached stratospheric heights? You ain’t seen nothing yet – a flamed Deuce recently sold for more than half a million dollars.
On October 29, Los Angeles-based auction company Braun, Inc. auctioned off Ermie Immerso’s 1932 Ford roadster hot rod, dubbed Orange Twist, to the Petersen Automotive Museum for $522,625. Braun claims the price is a world record for hot rods.
Immerso, who at one point worked for Holman-Moody and Carroll Shelby and raced at Bonneville in the 1950s (he joined the 200 Club on his first try, according to Dean Batchelor), entered the elite crowd of multiple winners of the America’s Most Beautiful Roadster trophy in 1989 when his Golden Star, a 1925 T-bucket with a Ford Indy Cammer V-8 engine, won for the first time. The same car repeated two years later. Both followed the Orange Twist, a 1932 Ford Model 18 roadster using the original steel body and Ardun heads on the flathead V-8, which won the AMBR title in 1988.
Immerso died in August 2004, still in possession of both Orange Twist and Golden Star. Petersen also bought Golden Star for $250,000.
Petersen Director Dick Messer said the Petersen, a nonprofit organization, will add the two cars to its collection of AMBR winners, which includes the 1929 Ford roadster that Bill Niekamp used to win the first AMBR trophy in 1950.
“As they become available, we’re trying to preserve them for history, rather than having them go to some guy’s shop, where you’ll only see them once a year,” Messer said. “Honestly, we thought the Golden Star would go for more than the Orange Twist, but with $150,000 of display materials included in the purchase price, what we paid is a deal.”
Other vehicles sold the same weekend included a 1940 Ford that sold for $48,025 and a 1929 Ford highboy roadster that sold for $50,850.
Braun’s chief auctioneer, Todd Wohl, said he is “gratified to see that hot rods are achieving sale prices equal to some of the most regarded collector automobiles such as Duesenbergs and Ferraris.”

(This post originally appeared in the November 10, 2005, issue of the Hemmings eWeekly Newsletter.)